Did some scouting in the marsh yesterday not so much to find new spots but to check some I am very familiar with over the years to see how deer are using them. I spent alot of time just following deer trails in the snow just to get a real good feel how they travel from an unpicked cornfield to their beds.
Many believe that deer bed right near a food source this time of the year but I found that these deer were traveling at least 1 1/2 miles through cattails to get to the cornfield. That was somewhat surprising considering there is no hunting pressure since the season has been closed since Jan. 8th but with the mild weather I guess they are still keeping security a priority.
Headed out to one of my favorite islands I have seen a few nice bucks on. Walking out there without ice in the early bow season is quite an adventure. I got stuck in muck up to my waist last fall for a half hour one night in the dark walking out. This spot is still not safe even though everything else has been frozen solid for quite some time. Luckily I was able to skirt around it and stay on top of the ice. Looks like a few deer went in and surprised they got out! Very nasty stuff never seen muck quite that dense and hard to even pull your legs free!
Found alot of deer sign on this island but only one large bed at the NW tip. Here is the bedding area and a pic of that bed...
This is the same island that a beaver has been destroying by taking down a bunch of large popples. Here is his lodge....
Did a lot of exploring following the maze of trails in the cattails finding plenty of doe and fawn beds. It's amazing how far some deer travel through cattails. I followed many tracks for over a mile and they never once stopped to bed or even went near any type of food source. Just a sea of cattails as far as you can see!
Decided to check out this very small island that I know a few bucks have bedded on over the years.
There is really no way to hunt this bedding area but I set up on a secondary island about 150 yards downwind of this one that they cross to get to the mainland. When I walked onto this small island I immediately found larger tracks and a few large beds. These beds looked to be a few days old.
He had plenty of rubs right in his bedroom......
I am not convinced this is a mature buck but worth checking out next season. Checked out many other bedding areas but seemed like the deer were really out and about yesterday and not bedding in their usual spots. I could not believe the amount of tracks they layed down after the fresh snow. It's almost like they were just wandering around all day and never bedded.
I reset the trip odometer on my GPS when I started. I knew I walked alot but surprised by just how far ...............
What a great way to end the day with a beautiful sunset on the marsh.
Marsh scout 1/29/2012
- Dewey
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
8 miles?
Way to put those boots to work. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
Way to put those boots to work. Great photos. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
Great pics...How high were those rubs in that bed? I put on 8.4 miles this past weekend scouting. Your 8 miles in one day is Awesome!
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking I don't have 8 miles in me.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
MOBIGBUCKS wrote:Great pics...How high were those rubs in that bed? I put on 8.4 miles this past weekend scouting. Your 8 miles in one day is Awesome!
The rubs were not real high, I would say just below waist level.
Nice thing is it's really easy walking in the marshes right now with the ice but the snow is starting to get deep enough to be bothersome. During the season sometimes 2 miles in muck and water will be about enough to kill a guy!!
The 8 miles I walked was pretty much 6 hrs of non stop walking just following deer trails mostly. It was a very interesting day and really gave me lot's of insight how they travel thru security cover.
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
I scouted a marsh 2 weeks ago and found the exact same things Dewey! The deer are just wandering all over. It's been a mild winter and they are just going about their business. It was a real nice day when I went and I saw 7 deer in the cattails about 2 hours before dark. I also couldn't believe how far they walked through the marsh! I only found 1 buck bed and several doe bedding areas. I was just following trails too from points to islands, from islands to islands, etc.
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- Jackson Marsh
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
That is some serious mileage! It was a nice sunny day for your scouting trip, not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Good job!
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
Nice pics . Looks like a lot more deer sign in that marsh than the one I scouted the other day . Keep it up!
8 miles is a nice walk...I'll have to set my odometer next time I go out.
8 miles is a nice walk...I'll have to set my odometer next time I go out.
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Re: Marsh scout 1/29/2012
Nice cool pics. This coming weekend should be perfect for scouting. All the snow should be gone.
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